Four leading animal charities are launching the Animal Welfare Evidence Centre to explore the causes of cruelty and neglect and better understand our relationship with animals.
The RSPCA, Compassion in World Farming, FOUR PAWS UK and Humane World for Animals UK are bringing together leading experts to plug critical gaps in research and strengthen evidence to improve animal welfare.
Designed as a vital resource for the animal welfare sector, the centre will explore the root causes of cruelty towards animals and the nature of our relationship with them.
It will explore what drives the way we use them in sport, fashion, entertainment or as food as well as the link between animal welfare and other key societal issues like health or housing.
The centre has been set up by the RSPCA and the Katherine Martin Charitable Trust.
Thomas Schultz-Jagow, RSPCA director of advocacy and prevention, said: “The challenges facing animals today are huge and complex and only by working together can we tackle the scale of cruelty and neglect we are facing.
“The Animal Welfare Evidence Centre is a critical opportunity to deepen our understanding of what drives humans to harm animals, so we can lay the foundations for the truly transformational change we all want to see for animals.”
Mr Schultz-Jagow continued: “We are grateful for the generosity of the Katherine Martin Charitable Trust, whose transformational gift has been critical in establishing the Animal Welfare Evidence Centre. This donation is part of Katherine Martin’s legacy, with which she wished to create a kinder and safer world for all animals.”
Over the next three years, the Animal Welfare Evidence Centre will bring the animal welfare sector together to integrate existing evidence, identify gaps and commission new research to further our understanding of the drivers of cruelty and neglect.
The work of the centre will focus on:
- Understanding the causes of cruelty and neglect;
- Insight into how to prevent cruelty and neglect;
- Deepening understanding of public awareness, attitudes and cultural norms concerning animals;
- Exploring how animal welfare links to other societal issues like housing, health, crime and planning; and
- Understanding and quantifying the economic costs to society of poor animal welfare and animal abuse.
Through this work, the centre will support the animal welfare sector to lay the foundations for long-term systemic change which transforms our attitudes and behaviour towards animals.
The Animal Welfare Centre’s first piece of research will explore the costs of animal cruelty and neglect to the economy, demonstrating the costs of cruelty and neglect of animals to individuals, governments, charities, public bodies, such as police and the courts, and, most importantly to animals themselves.
This research will form the basis of a strong business case for governments to invest in measures to prevent harm to animals.
The RSPCA is recruiting a chief of research to lead the work of the centre, which will launch its first piece of research in the Summer.
